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Hey, keep your Bibles open there in Genesis chapter 3. And, you know, one of the most, well, the most famous Bible verse is, of course, John 3.16. You know, there's a church not too far from my house. I drive by it. And they've got a sign at the front of the church. It's on their fence. And it says, What is 3.16? It doesn't say John 3.16. It just says, What is 3.16? And so I'll give you the answer right now. Look at Genesis 3.16. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shall bring forth children. Now notice the next words. And thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. What is 3.16? That God commanded that a man, the husband, is to be the head of his wife, and the husband is to rule over his wife. You go, man, it's 2020, Pastor Kevin. You're not allowed to say these things. Well, that's what 3.16 is. I know we like John 3.16. But you know what is just as much authoritative? Genesis 3.16. And it says that the husband is the head. The husband uses the word rule. The husband will rule over thee. And so we continue in the series, the Decently and in Order series. And now the title for the sermon this evening is The Order of Family. We've seen the order of God's nature. We've seen the order of employment or the workplace. Now we're looking at the order of family. All right. And the reason I looked at the workplace first is because God set man to work before he got married, before he had his family. And so I do believe that's a very important institution that people forget quite often as, you know, the institution of the workplace. But now we're looking at the order of family. You know, God has set things to be decent and in order. The Bible is very clear from the very beginning that the man is to rule over his wife. And I know it's 2020, but I believe you come to this church to hear the Bible preached. I believe you come here not wanting to know what God says about a certain topic, not wanting me to come and preach what you can already hear in the universities, in the schools. And you know they have a different idea. Now if you want to turn on the TV, you want to listen to feminism, they're going to tell you this is wrong. That it's not right for a man to rule over his wife. But we see according to God's word, this is what he set forth. So let's backtrack a little bit. Let's go back to Genesis chapter 2. Let's go to Genesis chapter 2 and verse number 18. And we're looking at why God created a woman. We saw initially when I preached through the order of employment, we saw why did God create man. Does anyone remember why God created man? Anyone remember? Yes, brother? To work. To till the ground, right? The garden of Eden needed a gardener. That's why he created man. Why did he create woman? Well, let's look at Genesis chapter 2 verse 18. Okay, so why was woman created? Because God did not want man to be alone. Because he knew that man needed a helper. He needed somebody at his side. This is why woman was created. He said, I can't believe you're saying that, Pastor Kevin. This is the word of God. This is what he says. I mean, I don't know how you can interpret this any other way than understanding that the reason the woman was created was because the man was alone. And let me tell you, if I didn't have my wife, I would be lonely. And that's just the honest truth. I think any husband here, if he loves his wife, would honestly say, if I was not married to my wife, I would be lonely. And so we see that man has a need. He needs companionship. And so God says, well, you need companionship. I'm going to create the woman to be the helper. It's not the woman to rule over the man. It's not the man necessarily to help the woman, though that's important. It's primarily that the woman was created to be a helper to the man. And I know feminism teaches you otherwise. I know feminism will say, well, that's not right. You know, how dare you preach this from the Bible. But listen, the Bible is timeless. You know, this is man and woman. This is the perfect creation of God. And things haven't changed in 2020. In fact, we need to hear this more now in 2020 than we needed in the past in previous generations. All right? And so it's not that, you know, I know feminism teaches us that women are in competition with men. You know, women can just be, you know, men as much as men can be. And, you know, our daughters are being taught, you know, you've got to be manly. And our boys are being taught, you've got to be feminine. And I can't believe, you know, you go to a shop and you're being served by somebody. You know, I look at the men in their nice, in their tight pink shirts, in their tight shorts, and I'm thinking, you don't look like a man. You know, you're not representing what a man ought to be. A man of strength, a man of leadership, a man who rules over his household. It's crazy what's happening in this world, brethren. But I'm telling you, as long as it's in the past with this church, we're going to preach the truth of God's Word. And God has been put in charge of the woman. All right? And listen, even if we did believe what feminism teaches, that we're somehow in competition, could you imagine if it was the other way around? If God created man to be a help to the woman, they're going to be upset anyway. You can't make these people happy. They're going to say, how dare you say that a woman needs a man? Why would a man need a man? Why would a woman need a man to help that person? You know, I mean, they would just find any reason to rebel against the Bible. And so it's not, you know, it's not, you know, when you understand feminism, okay, it's not just another idea. It's not just another way to understand relationships and families. No, it's rebellion against God. It's hatred against God. It's hatred against His Word. I know from the very early days of feminism, it was all about, well, you know, ladies ought to be allowed to vote as well. You know, they should have a voice as well. That's how they start. But they knew that eventually they wanted to tear down what it meant to be a man and to tear down what it means to be a woman. They hate the Word of God. They don't love this. Listen, today, children are being taught, you don't know, you know, don't decide if you're a boy or a girl. I mean, this is just, it's one step after another. Okay, one step. Well, now we're going to allow homosexual marriage. Now we're going to allow homosexuals to adopt children. And now you don't even need to, you know, doctors, don't tell a girl that she's a girl. Don't tell boys that he's a boy. Let them try to work out, you know, and let them get brainwashed by the school system to decide they can be whatever they want. Listen, they're tearing down what it means to be man and woman. And man and woman was created to be a helper to man. Woman was created to be a wife. Okay. Let's keep going. Verse number 19. Genesis 2 19. And out of the ground the Lord formed, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them. And whatsoever Adam called every living creature that was a name thereof. So Adam sees all the animals that God creates. We know that story. Verse number 20. And Adam gave names to all cattle and to the fowl of the air and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not fowl and help, meat for him. So this is in the Bible for a reason. Okay. And listen, people are marrying their animals. People are marrying their pets around the world these days. And the reason this is in the Bible is this is wrong. An animal, a creature cannot be a help meat to a man. He needs something else. Adam has seen all the animals but none of them were suitable for him. None of them would help him in his loneliness and his need for companionship. So let's keep going. Verse number 21. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept. And he took one of the ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman and brought her unto the man. So we have the first marriage on day number six of creation here. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones. Literally. She was bone of his bones. Literally. Okay. But hey, for us today, figuratively, you know, our wife is the bone of our bones. You know, the flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh. They were literally one flesh. I mean, they were literally, you know, it was literally made from the bone of Adam. And so this is to picture that marriage is a closeness. It's one flesh. It's not two individuals anymore. You know, when you think of a married couple, you ought to think about them as a united flesh, a one flesh. Now what I love about verse number 24, these are the words of Adam. And they're recorded for us in the Bible. And he says, therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother. Listen. Did Adam have an earthly mother and father? No. Okay. So let's pay attention right now. Adam's saying something very important. You know, it's so important that even though he did not have an earthly father and mother, it was so important for this to be recorded for us in the Bible. What is marriage? What is it? Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother. Men, when you decide to get married and if you're a husband already, listen. You've made the decision, or this is what you should have done, to leave mother and father. You're no longer part of that family unit. Marriage is the creation of a new family unit. Right? It's not just an extension of what was before. No. You leave mother and father. You cleave unto your wife. You become one flesh. You become a new family unit. The title once again was the order of family. What is a family? Listen. Once you're married, you're a new family unit. And if people just understood this, if people just followed the Bible, you would not have mother-in-law, daughter-in-law problems, or son-in-law, father-in-law problems. Why do so many marriages have problems with the in-laws? It's because they've forgotten. You're meant to detach yourself from the family you're for. Listen. Your family in the past may have been a great family, a very loving family, but husbands, you've got to put your wife before your mother. You can't be mommy's boy anymore. You start a new family. You're in charge now. You're the head of this home. And girls, when you decide to take that man as your husband, your father's no longer your head. You can't go and run for daddy anymore. Your husband, you go to your husband to deal with situations. You create a new family unit. Should we love our parents? Absolutely. Should we honor our parents? Absolutely. But you must understand that you've created, you've left mother and father, you've created a new family unit. That man is now in charge of that new family. And listen. Adam and Eve did not have children just yet. The marriage is already a family unit. I know some people struggle with having children. It doesn't mean they're any less of a family. Children are the bonus. Children are the end result of a healthy relationship between husband and wife. And so what we learn here in verse number 24 is that God created us to always operate within the confines of a family unit. God did not create us to just be loners, to just leave mom and dad's home. I'm 25 years old. I'm just going to move out and I'm just going to live for myself and I'm just going to be amongst my friends and we're just going to hang out and we're just going to have a bachelor's pad and get up to all kinds of maybe wickedness potentially. That's not God's plan for a man and woman. Marriage is to leave mother and father. In other words, you should be under your mother and father. You should be part of that family unit until you get married. When you get married, you start the new family unit. So God always wants us to operate under a family. First under mom and dad, then you get married. The reason you really should be leaving the house is to get married and you create a new family unit. God did not create us to be loners. Remember, it's not good for a man to be alone. And when the wife, when the lady, she leaves, when she's in a family, her father is the head of her and then when she gets married, this is why it's traditional for the father to walk down his daughter down the aisle and he gives his hand over to that man and he says to that man, you better look after her. You better take care of her but I'm handing responsibility over to you. And so when a woman gets married, she removes herself from the headship, the leadership of her father and puts herself under the leadership of her husband. And again, I know this is not popular but this is the Bible teaching. This is why we have these traditions in the wedding ceremony because they're aligned with what the Bible tells us. Now let's please go to the next chapter, Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3 and let's look at verse number 16 again. Genesis chapter 3 verse 16. And so what we're about to read is when God passes down judgment, he curses the earth, he brings judgment upon man, woman and the serpents. But we're looking at the woman right now in Genesis 3.16. Now I want you to understand, it doesn't just say your husband's going to rule over you. It says thy desire shall be to thy husband. What is that saying? That's saying that God has put within a woman the innate desire to be under a man. That's what it's saying. That every woman, God's created every woman to have a desire to get married, have a desire to have a husband, have a desire to be looked after and led by a man. Now when a woman says to you, I have no desire to get married, they're lying to you. They're lying to themselves because God's put that desire in them. This is why little girls, you don't need to, listen parents, you don't even need to teach your children this. Little girls, immediately when they see a baby, they want to hold that baby, they want to look at that baby, they want to play with that baby. You take your girls to the toy section, where are they going to go automatically? Aren't they going to go to the dolls? Aren't they going to go to that? They have a desire to be a mother, they have a desire. This is something that God's put within girls, within the woman. It's just that you have to go to school, you have to go to university to get brainwashed to think that's not what you desire. You know, every man desires to have a wife and every woman desires to have a husband, except if a man is a eunuch, but that's a different topic altogether. But you know, most often than not, that's what God's put in, and this is good. This is healthy. God wants family. God wants families to serve Him. Alright? So, you know, again, the feminism, the feminists will say, Well, that's not, you know, we want equality. It's not right for a man to rule over a woman. Listen, it is equality. Again, we're not in competition with one another. The reason I started this series is, you know, we're looking at the nature of God, and we saw that Jesus Christ was subject to the Father, remember? He said that the Father is greater than Him. It doesn't mean Jesus Christ is any less God. He's not any less valuable, okay? And just because you have a boss in your workplace that you need to listen to and do what he wants you to do, it doesn't mean that he's somehow a superior human being. He's as much a human being as yourself. God is not a respecter of persons. And so just because a man is to rule over his wife, it doesn't mean that the man is somehow a superior human being. No, that's a false belief. You know, get the feminism out of your head and understand we just have different roles. We have different roles. We have different responsibilities. There's authority. Could you imagine if we all had authority in this church? You know, if you just removed the authority from the past. You know what, guys? We have equal authority. Equality. We're fighting for equality. It's not right for one man in the past to have leadership, you know, the authority and the leadership in this church. Well, things will go crazy. Who's going to preach? We're going to have all these people get up. Oh, I feel like Preacher's Day. I feel like Song Leader. You know what? Let's bring in the Hillsong music. You know, why do we have to dress this way? It's going to be a mess. It's going to be shambles. It's always important that every institution has a head, not because that person's so much more important. It's just because he's got a different role, okay? He's got a different role and is equal in value as a human being, as any other human being. This is not teaching that man is more important than a woman. It's not teaching that. It's teaching that the husband has authority over his wife, all right? Now, can you please go back to Genesis chapter 1 because I want to show you this. Genesis chapter 1 verse 27. Let me show you the equality in God's eyes, okay? True biblical equality. Genesis chapter 1 verse 27. It says, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. So he's created both male and female. Let's get the picture here. Then look at verse number 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them. So he's speaking to both the male and the female, yeah? He's speaking to both sexes there, right? What does he say? He says, Hey, that's equality. Both man and woman have been given dominion over the earth by God. It's not that man has more dominion over the earth or the woman has more dominion or less dominion. What does it mean to have dominion? It means you have control. You have authority over the earth. God's given this equally to man and woman, but within a marriage the man has rule, right? The man has authority over his wife. So listen, it's not that a woman is like an animal. It's not like a woman is some object. It's not a woman that's, you know, she's less than a man. No, they've been given equal authority to subdue the earth, to have dominion over the earth, okay? It's just, remember, the family unit where the man has authority over his wife. Now, once again, if that's, you know, ladies, if you struggle with this, if you've been brainwashed by this world, don't get angry at me. Just get angry at the brainwashing, okay? Get angry at whatever, whoever taught you, you know, nonsense. I'm here to preach the Bible, okay? And don't forget Philippians 2, 6. I already kind of covered this, but let me read it. It says, Equality, yeah. Of course he's equal with the Father. But then it says, And so Jesus Christ became a servant, okay? But he was equal to God. And ladies, look, you're equal to men. But you've got to make yourself a servant. When you get married, you are to serve your husband. Ah, Pastor Kevin, it's not 1950s anymore. I know. This is why we need to preach this. Because people don't understand, you know, understand what the Bible teaches, that there's nothing wrong with being a servant. Don't forget, as a pastor, I'm the servant of this church. Let's go back to Genesis chapter 3. Let's keep reading, verse number 17. So we saw how God cursed, you know, the woman. So now we're going to see how God cursed the man in verse number 17. Genesis chapter 3, verse 17. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life, thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field, in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground, for out of it was thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. So I already kind of preached about this when I talked about employment, how men were created to work. But there are a couple of things I want to bring to your attention when it came to these curses that God brought upon man and woman. Number one, the curse on the man is not that he required to work. We already saw that he was required to work to till the ground, okay? But the curse made it more difficult to work. There'll be thorns and thistles, there'll be challenges. It requires more labor to provide for yourself and provide for your family, okay? So, you know, it's that the work would be more difficult. That's the curse. The curse is not working. The curse is that the work would be more difficult, right? Then we look at the lady, once again, that she was, if you go back to verse number 16, it says, unto the woman, he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children. And so the curse is not that she's going to have children, because that's what she was created for, okay? That's not the curse. The curse is that it would be more difficult to have children. This is why we call it labor. When a woman goes into labor, you're praying for her, you're concerned about her, because it's going to be a very difficult time in her body, you know, to bring forth that child. And so having children is not the curse. But the difficulty of giving birth is the curse, okay? So, ladies, every time you have a child and, you know, you maybe remember back when you had children, you were screaming and it's painful, it's the result of the curse. And when you go out and work and you've got to sweat, maybe you've got to take on a part-time job or a second job to provide for your family, just remind yourself, this is a result of the curse. This is the result of sin, okay? Now, please turn to Ephesians chapter 5 for me. Turn to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. So we've looked at the Old Testament, okay? We looked at the Old Testament and someone might say, Well, see, Pastor Kevin, you don't get it. Yeah, under the Old Testament, God made it that husbands would rule over their wives. Don't people say this stuff? That was the Old Testament. We're living in the New Testament days, right? There's freedom, right? We don't have to follow the... Well, let's look at Ephesians chapter 5. This is written to a church in Ephesus, okay? This is written to a New Testament church and so if it's written to the Ephesian church, it's written to Blessed Hope Baptist Church as well here in Fairfield. This is instructions for us. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 22. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands. Oh, man. Even the New Testament says to submit yourselves. Say, well, you know, okay, you know, I'll submit sometimes. No, what does it say? As unto the Lord. As unto God. How submissive would you be to God? If God was here, if Jesus Christ walked into these doors and asked you ladies to do something, would you do it? Well, that's the same attitude. I'm sure you would. That's the same attitude you ought to take with your husband. As unto the Lord. So when you serve your husband, you are serving the Lord, right? Remember, men, in the workplace when you are working hard and even if you might not get along with your manager, if you just work hard, you know, and you put in your mind that you're serving the Lord, the Lord will reward you. Well, ladies, it's the same thing. You might not have a perfect husband. In fact, you're never going to have a perfect husband because we all have a sin nature. And, you know, you just have to decide, well, I'm going to be submissive to my husband and if I prove myself to be submissive to him, I'm also showing myself to be submissive to the Lord. The Lord will see that. The Lord will bless you. The Lord will reward you. It's the same principle, okay, within these institutions. Look at verse number 23. Just in case you think I misread that. For the husband is the head of the wife. Oh, man. 2020, Pastor Kevin. Yeah. This is going to be applicable to 2021 as well and 2022 until we go home to be with the Lord, okay? The husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church and he is the savior of the body. Brethren, who's the head of this church? Pastor Kevin? No. Brother Luke? No. Brother David? No. Christ is the head of this church, right? It would be ridiculous to say that he's not the head. Well, it would be just as equally ridiculous to say that the husband is not the head of the wife. Okay? The husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church. Verse number... Oh, and he is the savior of the body. Verse number 24. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wise be to their own husbands. Now, the next phrase, ladies, you know, that's what the Bible says. In everything. In everything. You know, whatever your husband asks from you, you ought to do it. Unless he's telling you to sin, unless he's telling you to blaspheme God and hate God, listen, that's when you don't need to obey your husband. When it comes to everything else, if he asks something from you, do it. That's the commandments of God. And listen, if your husband loves you, let's keep going. Let's have a look at the husband loving their wife. Verse number... I'm losing my place here. Ah, yeah. Ephesians 5, 25. It says husbands. So this is the balance to doing everything that he says. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. How did Jesus Christ give himself for the church? Well, Acts 20, 28 says that God purchased the church in his own blood. Men, husbands, how much should you love your wife? You ought to love her to the point that you would die for her. If you could decide, you know, my wife's suffering or might go through losing her life potentially, I want to step in and do that. If my wife is in danger, I'm going to step in front of that danger and I'm going to take the hits. That's how much you ought to love your wives. As much as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, he bled and died for the church, brethren. Husbands, that's how much you got to love your wife. More than your own life, if you're willing to give it up for her. And so if a husband does love his wife the way that Christ loves his church, well, then it will be easy for the wife to be submissive to the husband because he knows my husband loves me. He's not going to ask me to do stupid things. Listen, God does not ask us to do stupid things. Christ does not ask us to do sinful, wicked, stupid things. And so that's how God treats his church. Well, husbands, you ought to treat your wife with love. And you know what? If you show her love, she'll want to. In fact, don't forget the desires in her. That, you know, she would be ruled over her husband. Her desire is toward her husband. And, you know, husbands, if you've got a rebellious wife, you've got to think about whether you're loving her the way you ought to. And if you are loving her the way you ought to, then you need to help your wife spiritually to understand what God's word says about her role in the marriage. Okay, let's please turn to 1 Timothy. Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 5. 1 Timothy chapter 5. Because, again, this is a sermon, I guess, for families. And whenever I teach about families, I'm going to be preaching against feminism. And feminism teaches us, teaches ladies, get out to work. Work hard. Why should you be under a husband? Why should you be under a man? But then they send them to work and they're under another man. And they're under a manager who's not even her own husband. And that other man who's not her husband is telling her what to do. What in the world? So get away from the man you love, the man you commit yourself to. I don't want to listen to him. Listen to some other men. That's crazy. What in the world's going on? This is the world we live in, though. So we need to hear this preached. Now, I'm going to go to the Old Testament while you've turned there to 1 Timothy. I'm going to the Old Testament. Let's have a look at the Old Testament role for a woman. Because, Brevin, the Bible's so wonderful. It's consistent. It's all contradictions. It's always right. It doesn't matter if you're looking things up in the Old Testament, looking up things in the New Testament. It's always consistent. I'm going to read to you from Psalm 113 verse 9. Psalm 113 verse 9 says, He maketh the barren to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord! You know what gives God praise? When a woman has children and she keeps the house. This is where we get the term the housekeeper. Sometimes my wife, for passports or things, whatever, she has to write down her occupation. Do we write housekeeper? Or household manager? We write something like that. I can't remember exactly what it is. This comes from Psalm 113. This is the role of a woman. The woman was not cursed to go and work at the sweat of her brow to provide for her family. That was given to men. The women were cursed to labor and have children. Why do you want to give a woman double the curse? We can labor hard and have children. And you can go to work and work hard with the sweat of your brow. Why would you do that to a woman you love, the woman you marry, and say you've got to get out to work because we've got to pay the bills. We've got to get the bigger house, maybe just live in a smaller house and be happy. Do what God asks from you. And men, you ought to be the provider. You ought to be the one making sure that you're the breadwinner, that you're looking after your family. So we see in the Old Testament the barren woman, and some women do struggle with falling pregnant, but God promises that he'll make the barren woman to keep house, to have children, to look after the house, to be a joyful mother of children. Joyful mother of children! Can you imagine that being taught by feminism today? No, they're taught, hey, you know, children are a burden. They'll stop you in your career growth. You know, they're just going to be, you know, just hand them over to the government, hand them over to the public schools. They'll raise your children. They'll teach them they don't need to be boys or girls. No, why would you do that? You know, having children is a joyful thing. My wife is exhausted at the end of every day. She's tired at the end of every day. But I tell you what, she's always happy. You know, and sometimes during the day she might even shed tears. She might even, you know, it's so much work, it's so much to do, but at the end of the day I guarantee you ask her, would you take it back, you know, having 11 kids, and she'll definitely say no. Because it's a joyful thing even though it requires labor, even though it requires work, right, having children. You're in 1 Timothy 5 verse 13. Just in case you thought that was an Old Testament teaching and things have changed, no. 1 Timothy 5, 13, and with all they learn to be idle, they're speaking about women, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle, but toddlers also and busybodies speak in things which they ought not. Now, ladies, there's a lot of ladies that are like this. I know because I've worked with a lot of ladies, and oh, man, I'd say like 80% of the women I worked with were toddlers, were busybody, were gossipers, going about talking about, you know, in the workplace, okay? So how do we overcome that nature? Verse number 14, it says, I will, therefore, say what is God's will for a woman? Here it is. I will, therefore, that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give no occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. Listen, don't give the adversary, they're speaking of the devil, don't give him any space. You know, ladies, if you're just, you know, being a help meat to the husband, if you're just, you know, if you're there raising children and looking after the house, you're not going to allow the devil to come in and hurt this family. Because then it says there in verse number 15, for some are already turned aside after Satan. And so the ladies are like, I just want to make a career for myself, you know, I want to labor like a man, and I'm going to go and gossip and complain about my husband. Well, the Bible telling us that you've turned aside to Satan. And this is not just in 2020. You see here, even in the days of Timothy, he had to teach his church this thing. This was going on even in his days. Again, there's nothing new under the sun. We learn, you know, there's nothing new under the sun. Right, 2020 should never surprise us because you'll see those things anywhere in the Bible. Now, please go to 1 Corinthians 11. This is really important for you to turn to. 1 Corinthians chapter 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Listen, these aren't cryptic verses. These aren't verses that, well, maybe they can be understood like this and they can be understood like that. The Bible is so consistent. I mean, it's written, I don't know how you can read this and as a Christian say otherwise. Now, listen, you know, I know there are things in the Bible that can be challenging. I know that, you know, we've been brainwashed by the media, we've been brainwashed by society, by our schools to think a certain way. But never, let me just tell you the tip of serving God and just praising God and just learning the Bible. When you're challenged with something in the Bible, and even if I'm preaching, you might say, you know what, I don't like what I just heard. I don't like that. Listen, it's better, it's okay if you don't like it. Everyone grows, everyone gets challenged and we need time to grow and things like that. But never make excuses and say, well, Paul said that because he hated women. I've heard that said. Paul said that, well, you know, yeah, you know, people just come up, well, you know, that's a misinterpretation of the Bible. You know, people come up with excuses for God's word and listen, that would just dishonor God. Just saying, God, you didn't mean that in your word the way you said it. It's better to just say, you know what, God, I acknowledge what you say, but I'm not ready to do that. Please help me. You're better doing that and just walking away and disobeying what you hear preached, you know, than just trying to turn around and change and make excuses and come up with other ideas and change the Bible. Listen, God hates that attitude. You know, none of us are perfect. You know, I read my Bible and there are things I'm challenged with and sometimes I'm like, I don't know if I can do that just yet, Lord. You know, but instead of making excuses and trying to make myself feel better, I'm just like, God, help me get to where I need to be and help me get to that point. That's the right attitude with the Bible, okay, instead of rejecting out of hand what we're reading. 1 Corinthians 11, verse number 3, it says here, But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ. So men, who's your authority? Jesus Christ all the time, okay. And the head of the woman is the man and the head of Christ is God. Just in case the woman has a problem with that, with that man being the head, don't forget that Christ's head is God, the Father, okay. The Father is the head of Jesus Christ. Ladies, you know, it's not saying that every man is the head of every woman, no. You know, when you're a young girl, your head is your father, okay. And like I already explained, when you get married, that headship gets transferred to your husband, okay. But your husband also has a head, which is Jesus Christ. And so if your husband is not, you know, performing as a husband should, if he's not loving you as a husband should, you don't go and run to the pastor and think, I have authority of your husband. I don't. Who was the head of the husband? Was Christ. You go to God, you go and pray, you get on your knees and say, God, please make my husband a godly man. Please help my husband love me the way he ought to be. It's not about going to your best friends and going to your dad or going to your pastor to complain about your husband. You go to his head. His head is Jesus Christ. Let Christ sort him out, okay. Let Christ, man, you know, I'm sure Christ will sort him out if you definitely go, you know, humbly before Christ and ask him for help. But let's keep going. It says in verse number four, Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his head. Now let's pause it for a minute. When it's talking about your head being covered, I'll prove it to you later. It's speaking about your hair. It's not about hats, okay. It's not about, I don't know, whatever people think. It's being covered in this chapter. You'll see the context soon, is about your hair, okay. So let's understand that, okay. Every man, so man, men, if you're praying or prophesying, having your head covered, this is speaking about having long hair, okay. You dishonor your head. Who is your head? Jesus Christ. So as we go through this chapter, you'll soon learn that God does not want man to have long hair, okay. And he does not want women to have short hair. This is not just some preference thing. This is not just some society understanding of the difference between man and woman. This is what God instructs because it speaks about the authority. It speaks about the structure within the family units. And ultimately the authority that God has over his people. Let's keep going. Verse number five. But every woman that prayeth or prophesyeth with her head uncovered, so she's got short hair or shaven head, it says here dishonoreth her head. Who's her head? Her father or her husband, okay. Look at this. For that is even all one as if she were shaven. It's like if she has short hair, it's like she just might as well shave off all her hair, okay. So this covering speaks of the authority and the fact that you are subject under that authority, okay. Let's keep going. Verse number six. By the way, let me just say that again. So everyone that prayeth or prophesyeth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head. So if a woman has short hair, you're dishonoring the authority over you. You're dishonoring either your father or you're dishonoring your husband. I'm not making this up. This is what the Bible tells us, right. Let's keep going. Verse number six. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shaven. So ladies, if you're not going to have long hair, just shave it all off. You might as well is what the Bible is saying, right. But if it be a shame for a woman to be shaven, let her be covered. So it is a shame, right, for a woman to just shave off her head. So let her be covered. Let her have the long hair. Verse number seven. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, for as much as he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man. Let's stop there for a minute. So men, when you have short hair, when you don't cover your head with long hair, you are showing God glory. You are honouring the authority. You are honouring Jesus Christ with your short hair. Your short hair represents that I am subject unto Jesus Christ, okay. And if you have long hair, you're dishonouring his authority, alright. And ladies, you are the glory of the man. Your long hair is to glorify your authority, which is either your father or your husband if you're married. Let's keep going. Verse number eight. For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. This is speaking about Adam and Eve. It says in verse number nine. Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man. Remember that? When God created woman, woman was created for the man, alright. And then it says this. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. And so it's saying, look, a woman ought to have power or authority over her, which is the husband, because of the angels. So the angels also are subject. They also have an authority. Of course, the authority of the angels is the Lord God, right. So let's keep going. Verse number 11. Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman, but all things of God. So verses 11 and 12 is teaching us there's equality between man and woman, okay. One is not more important than the other. It talked about, you know, earlier that, yes, the man has authority over his wife, but now it's teaching us there's equality. Let's read that again. Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man in the Lord, sorry. For as the woman is of the man, so remember, the woman was of the man, so God took the rib of Adam and created woman. She's of the man, right. She was created out of man. Then it says, even so is the man also by the woman. So the only reason, the only way man can come into this world is by the woman, is by the mother, okay. So both have brought forth each other. But then it says this, but all things of God, okay. So there is equality and God is above all, okay. Men and women, we need each other. We're complementary. We're not in competition, but there is authority and the authority is the man. Okay, let's keep going. Verse number 13, judging yourselves, is it comely or is it beautiful that a woman pray unto God uncovered? You know, is it nice for a woman to be praying to God with short hair? Verse number 14, doth not even nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? Men, if you have long hair, nature itself should teach you, if that doesn't teach you, 1 Corinthians 15 also teach you, that it is a shame, oh sorry, verse 11, it is a shame unto him, okay. Because you're dishonouring the authority that's over you. That's what it's symbolic represents, okay. Let's keep going, verse number 15. But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given her for a covering. So remember, this whole chapter is talking about the covering, the covering, the covering. What is the covering for the woman? Her hair, right. But if a woman have long hair, it is glory for her, for her hair is given her for a covering. All right, so let's understand this just very quickly. Why do women have long hair? Why is it innate in a woman to have long hair? Is it because society told us to do that? No, it's because within her, she understands that by having long hair, I'm showing myself to be submissive to the authority that's over me. That's the man, the father or the husband. And why does the man have short hair? Showing himself to be submissive to Christ who is over him. And brethren, I know when we look at pictures of Jesus Christ, how do they show his hair? Does Jesus Christ walk around with short hair or long hair in the pictures? Don't they always show you long hair? Well, listen, long hair is a shame to the man. And if Jesus Christ has a head and if he's honouring his head and Jesus Christ did honour his head, the father, he would have had short hair because he was a man. So what about the men in the Bible that had long hair like Samson and Nazareth? The reason they had long hair is because they made a vow to the Lord. Don't forget the long hair is a shame. And as long as that vow was not completed, they had that long hair to show that they had still to complete that vow. There was still something that they needed to get done. But men, listen, you should have short hair. This is what the Bible tells us. And it's not just my preference. It's not society's preference. It shows us authority. And so this is why when men have long hair, it's a sign of rebellion. And when women have short hair, it's a sign of rebellion. You know it's a sign of rebellion but maybe you didn't understand why. Because you're rebelling against the authority that's over you. And you say, well, Pastor Kevin, don't you know we have friends and people that we know that have long hair, men and ladies. What are you going to do if a lady walks into church and she has short hair? Well, let's keep going. Verse number 16. But if any man seems to be contentious, so if they're fighting against his teaching, they're contentious against his teaching, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. So what is this teaching us? This is teaching us that we can't enforce hair length. Like when you come to church, I can't check your hair and tell her, well, ladies, it's got to be a little bit longer. And men, you've got to have a bit, I can't enforce that rule. That is something that you're not allowed to do in the church. All I can do is preach God's word and hope that God's word will touch someone's heart and they'll get that fixed up in their life. That's pretty much any time we preach the Bible. I can't really force you. I can't go to your house and force you to do certain things. Nor do I want to. Nor do I want to. But all that's required from the pastor is to preach God's word and hopefully the Holy Spirit will take his word and change your heart and make you think about these things. This is so important. Men, if you have long hair, you are dishonouring your head. You are dishonouring Jesus Christ and I'm sure you don't want to dishonour Jesus Christ. And ladies, have your long hair because it gives honour to your husband. It gives honour to the man. So how long is long and how short is short? Those are stupid questions. Men, have your short hair where it's clearly short. And ladies, have your hair long so it's clearly long. That's it. What is that exactly point? That's you trying to rebel. That's you trying to figure out what is it exactly? Listen, God doesn't give us that information. Just have it long enough so it's long and for men, have it short enough so it's short. That's it. We're not trying to enforce this in the church. If a man walks in with long hair or a lady with short hair, hey, they are allowed in this church. And it's not our job to go and criticise them and tell them, listen, let God's word do it. But the reason I wanted to cover that is because it clearly shows us that our hair length demonstrates authority. Okay? Authority in the family units. All right. Now, let's turn to Malachi chapter 2, please. Let's go to Malachi chapter 2 and verse number 14. Malachi chapter 2 and verse number 14. Now, just sort of with this series, right now I'm just preaching you a theory, right? I'm just teaching you what the Bible says about the authority and instruction in the family. When I preach this again on, I think I'm preaching Sunday night. I might be wrong. Sorry, Sunday afternoon. I might be wrong. Sorry, Sunday afternoon. I'll be preaching more practical things. Okay? So we're going through the theory. We're seeing what God says. It's consistent from the Old Testament to the New Testament. And then we'll be teaching practical things in the next sermon in the series. Malachi chapter 2, please. Malachi chapter 2 and verse number 14. Malachi chapter 2 and verse number 14. So what we're about to read is when Israel, or sorry, I should say when Judah, the southern kingdom, were brought back into their land, new temple, new city. They built everything back up again. And they started to worship God, but then the people got far from God again, just like we normally read in the Bible. And God is really upset. God is really angry with the nation during this time. And one reason is because the man was not treating his wife with honor. Men were not treating their wives properly. And God hates it when you don't love your wife. God hates it when you don't honor your wife. Okay? Let's have a look at this. Malachi chapter 2, verse 14. Wherefore? God is telling the Jews here, you've been treating the wife of your youth treacherously. You haven't been loving her. You haven't been treating her properly. And ladies, again, if your husband does not respect you, if they do not honor you, if they do not love you, go to God. He'll sort them out. You know? And he'll tell that man, I'm not happy with the way you're treating your wife. Let's keep going. Verse number 15. And did not he make one? Hey, that's the one flesh. Did he not make marriage? Yet had he the residue of the spirit, and wherefore one? Why? Why did he make two one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. God says, why did I make marriage? Why did I make a man and woman one? Why did I make them one flesh? Because I wanted a godly seed. Now, men, understand this. You ought to love your wife. You ought to show your wife respect and honor because your children, you know, you want to train your children to love their mother, to respect their mother. And the way you treat your wife will determine how your children will see their mother and see their wives, okay? If you create a broken home environment, you create a home lacking love, it's going to have an effect on your children. God wants you to love your wife, not to treat you treacherously, and so you can together raise a godly seed. Why does God want us to have children, brethren? He wants to see your children as godly. He wants to see your children saved. He wants to see your children serve the Lord. That's why he created family. That's why he wants generation after generation to serve him. And, men, if we fail in our love for our wives, we're going to let down not only our wife but our children. We're going to let down the generations to come if we don't lead properly and we don't show love, you know, properly to our wives. Let's keep going. Verse 16. What's put in our way? We covered this recently in Jeremiah 3. Put in our way is divorce. No, God hates divorce. It's not right to hate. Yes, it is. Okay? If you want to hate, hey, listen, it's right to hate the things that God hates. And it's right to love the things that God loves. If God hates putting away, if God hates divorce, then men and wives make the decision to say, well, I hate that too. And I'm never going to divorce my spouse. We're married. We're married for life. And that's the way it's going to be because I hate divorce. And it's right to hate the things that God hates. It says, You know, treat your wives properly is what is being taught here in Malachi 3. So, ladies, I don't want you to walk away thinking, man, Pastor Kevin says, you know, it's just about the ladies. And that's what ladies think. Whenever you teach this, some ladies always think, why doesn't he preach to the men? I am preaching to the men. Men love your wives. Men love your wives. Don't treat them badly. You know, love them like Christ loved the church. Be willing to die for your wife. That's how much you ought to love her. Okay? And can you please now turn to Matthew 22, verse 23. Matthew 22 and verse number 23. Matthew 22, verse number 23. Marriage is not an eternal union. You know, the Mormons teach that if a man takes his wife, you know, Mormonism, they teach if a man takes his wife, that wife will be his wife for all eternity. That when they pass away, they're going to inhabit a faraway planet. I think. And have a bunch of spiritual children and they're going to populate a new earth. I think that's what, you're the Mormon expert, brother. Is that right? Something like that, right? Yeah, listen, marriage is not some eternal union. You know, when we get, when people get married, you know, by tradition, quite often the statement gets said or the phrase gets said, till death do us part. Listen, when one spouse dies, that is the end of the marriage. That is the end of that union. Okay, and you're free to get remarried once your spouse passes away. But the question gets brought up to Jesus here in Matthew 22, verse 23. Matthew 22, verse 23. That is true. That if a man married a woman and he passed away and they had no kids, that if he had a brother, it was right for the brother to take that woman as his wife to provide for her and for her to have children. Okay, so that is true. But then it says in verse number 25. So they're using like a crazy illustration, a crazy story. You know, how many boys do I have? Is it seven? Eight. All right, well, you know, there was a time I had seven boys. Could you imagine, you know, Nicholas, my oldest boy, getting married to a woman. He dies and then, you know, Christian marries her and then he dies and then Matthias marries her and then he dies. Then Sebastian marries her and he dies. I mean, this is a stupid illustration. This is not going to happen, right, in real life. But listen, the Sadducees are trying to find something ridiculous, right. And then anyway, the woman died also. Let's keep going, verse number 28. Jesus answered and said unto them, All right, so listen, I just wanted to end on this one because, you know, your marriage is not some eternal union. It's on this life till death do us part. Once death do us part, there is no marriage in heaven. There is no further union. There is no children being had in heaven or anything like that, okay. And this, again, goes against Islam, right. Islam says, you know, I don't know if all of Islam teaches this, but, you know, if you have like a suicide bomber, right, someone dies for their faith, that they're going to get to heaven and have 72 virgin wives. Have you heard that before? 72 virgin wives, you know. Well, here's the thing. There is no marriage, so they miss out on that. But secondly, they're going to end up in hell anyway because they don't believe the gospel. So whatever they thought they were going to get, you know, they've been taught incorrectly. And so I'm just telling you that, that, you know, just showing you in the Bible, whether it is Christ, you know, once we go to be with the Lord in heaven, there is no more marriage. And, of course, this, again, speaks of the equality that we have in Jesus Christ. I'll just read it to you. Galatians 3, 28 says, There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. So when God looks at a man and woman, as long as you're in Jesus Christ, you know, we go to be with the Lord for all eternity, we have equal share in the promises of God. Equal share in the promises that were told to Abraham. God, you know, in eternity is not holding up men more importantly than women. No, there is equality. There is one in Christ Jesus. Okay, so I'm just showing that. Listen, the Bible already has equality between husband and wife. We don't need feminism, okay, to try to balance it. No, they're going to make it imbalanced. And they're going to destroy the family unit. Let's end on Colossians chapter 3. Let's go to Colossians chapter 3. We'll end on this one. Colossians chapter 3, verse number 18. Colossians chapter 3, verse number 18. Remember, this is the decently and in order series. If you want your family, if you want your family to be decent and in order, you know, you don't want a broken home. You don't want destroyed children. You know, if you don't want divorce, you know, this is what you need to do, brethren. Colossians chapter 3, verse 18. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord. Hey, that's what I want to leave the wives tonight. Verse number 19. Husbands, love your wives and be not bitter against them. Husbands, you know why it says here be not bitter against them? Because God knows that men can become bitter with their wives. Okay, so we've been instructed, don't be that way, but love your wives, men. If you want to have a house that's decent and in order, you have to love your wives, okay. And verse number 20. Children, children, pay attention. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. So what did we learn just in that summary there? Men, you're in charge, okay. God's going to hold you accountable. When Adam and Eve sinned, God did not go to Eve. He went to the man, he went to Adam. You know, he went to Adam and said, Adam, what's going on? And men, you're accountable for your family. You know, if you're failing God, if your family's falling apart, God's going to come to you and ask you, what's going on? Solid out, men. You know, you're the leader, you're in charge. All right, don't blame your wife like Adam did. And then Eve, she blames the devil. No, that's wrong. You know, men, just take ownership, you know, and understand that God is holding you accountable for your family. And children, it says, obey your parents. It doesn't say obey just mom. It doesn't say just obey dad, okay. Obey your parents and mothers. You also have leadership in the house. You also have authority in the house. You have authority over your children. And for children, it says, it is well pleasing unto the Lord. Children, if you want to please the Lord, you want to please God, you start by just obeying your parents in all things. Whatever mom and dad tells you to do, you do it. That is God's command for you. And so if husbands will do what the Bible says, if wives will do what the Bible says, if children are to do what the Bible says, I promise you, you're going to have a family, a happy family. You're going to have your house in order. Your house will please God, and you'll be raised in a godly seed for the future generations. Let's pray.